Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is exactly that. We have had eight rounds and after every round there has been an open and transparent opportunity for people to express views. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. It is a rolling process.

I acknowledged that there are people who are critics but I ask the Deputy to look honestly at what is in the document. I quoted to Deputy Healy what went into the Canadian document to protect investors. They can only call on the investor dispute mechanism if they are faced with a fine denial of justice in criminal or administrative procedures, if there has been a fundamental breach of due process, if there has been manifest arbitrariness in the way they have been treated, or if there has been targeted discrimination. The elements that go into the improved investor-state dispute settlements, ISDS, over time are narrowing the ranges where they can pursue complaints and these elements are improving the process. In the mandate, we have excluded rafts of things that the agreement cannot enter into, including GMO, the right to regulate or the right to have public services provided through the public sector.

These things have been ring-fenced and are not party to these negotiations. One must distinguish between opposition that simply is opposed to any trade and that which is founded on elements and consideration of weaknesses or whatever. This is an important distinction, and the reason there has been so much consultation is in order that there can be a rational debate in which people examine each item. It is a negotiation, and not everything will be fully in the open. The Deputy will not know final positions until the end, and if he ever has been in negotiation, he will know that that is the way negotiations evolve.

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